Rail Agency In Insurance Pool

July 14, 1986|By Gary Washburn, Transportation writer.

The board of Metra, the commuter rail arm of the Regional Transportation Authority, has voted to join a cooperative insurance pool that will provide liability coverage for major claims of up to $100 million.

In other action last week, the board agreed to reduce or eliminate smoking areas on certain trains that are found to have a chronic shortage of nonsmoking seats, and it approved service improvements on the Rock Island commuter line.

Metra will join Railroad Association Insurance Ltd. (RAIL), a cooperative rail industry insurance program formed earlier this year in response to the unavailability of affordable coverage for major claims.

Metra will pay a onetime capitalization charge of about $1.2 million to join RAIL and an annual premium of about $500,000. The agency becomes the organization`s 12th member.

Earlier this year, Metra obtained coverage for claims ranging from $5 million to $40 million from Lloyd`s of London. The annual premium was $4.2 million, up from $3.6 million in 1985 and $1.2 million the year before.

Officials said the Lloyd`s policy could be canceled if the RTA develops a self-insurance program that has been under discussion for several months. The program would provide coverage of up to $50 million for Metra under a plan that also would cover the RTA`s two other operating subsidiaries: the Chicago Transit Authority and Pace, the suburban bus system.

Jonathan Gilbert, a board member from Oak Park who suggested the new smoking policy, said some trains with a shortage of seats in nonsmoking areas appear to have empty spots in cars designated for smokers.

``The objective here is not to eliminate smoking, but to recognize that having a comfortable seat is more important than having smoking,`` Gilbert said.

The Metra staff will determine which trains will have their smoking sections decreased or eliminated.

Improvements on the Rock Island, to become effective by October, include schedule changes and the addition of several trains. For example, a new morning rush-hour train leaving New Lenox at 6:24 a.m. will be added on the main line while an extra evening train will be put on the suburban branch leaving LaSalle Street Station at 8:35 p.m.

Officials said the additional service is designed to fill ``gaps`` in the existing schedule and to serve the rapidly growing southwestern suburbs.